1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surgical system including an ultrasound treatment instrument.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an ultrasound treatment instrument including an ultrasound transducer has been widely used as a surgical system that performs treatment such as dissection and excision by applying ultrasound vibration energy to living tissue of an object to be treated in a patient.
Further, an ultrasound treatment instrument that is used in treatment for one case of a disease is repeatedly used after sterilization or the like by an autoclave apparatus or the like is applied to the ultrasound treatment instrument and the ultrasound treatment instrument is set in a clean state. In the ultrasound treatment instrument which is used by repeating treatment by ultrasound vibration energy like this, degradation of the characteristics of the ultrasound transducer occurs by repetition of the treatment by the ultrasound vibration energy.
Therefore, for the ultrasound treatment instrument, the number of endurable times or the like as the number of usable times corresponding to a lifespan is set in advance.
In the systems including ultrasound treatment instruments as above, some systems include functions of determining whether or not the ultrasound treatment reaches the lifespan which is set in advance.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-88707 as the first conventional example discloses an apparatus including means that reads identification information provided in a probe that is used in energy treatment of ultrasound or the like, means that retains probe information which correlates the use history information including a sum of the number of times of output with a maximum output of the energy outputted from a generator and the number of times of output with a set output, and a sum of an output time period with the maximum output and an output time period with the set output, and the identification information, means that retrieves the retained use history information based on the read identification information, means that determines the lifespan of the probe based on the retrieved use history information, and means that outputs alert information indicating that the probe reaches the lifespan thereof when it is determined that the probe reaches the lifespan.
Further, U.S. Patent No. 2012/0078278 A1 as the second conventional example discloses a surgical system including a battery assembly with a control circuit provided in a housing, a handle assembly to which the battery assembly is detachably connected, and which includes an ultrasound dissection blade, and an ultrasound transducer and generating device (TAG) assembly. U.S. Patent No. 2012/0078278 A1 discloses the surgical system including means that measures use of the TAG assembly, and a content of determining whether or not the number of times of activation of the TAG assembly, and the time period until shutdown performed by an actual time clock circuit are the number of times and the time period which correspond to one time of actual use.
Further, U.S. Patent No. 2005/0070800 A1 as the third conventional example discloses a surgical system including a probe having a first storage section that stores determination reference information relating to abnormality determination, a hand piece having a second storage section that stores the determination reference information relating to abnormality determination and an ultrasound transducer, and a control device that determines presence or absence of abnormality of the surgical system based on a result of information reading processing of reading the determination reference information from the two storage sections, further determines presence or absence of abnormality of the surgical system based on the determination reference information which is read, and stops drive of the ultrasound transducer when the surgical system has abnormality.